Thursday, March 31, 2011

I drove out to Hillsboro today to return the glass shades that didn't work for the light fixture. From my house there are two ways to get to Hillsboro. One is by way of the TV Highway, which I try to avoid if possible. The other is the back road, through farmland. That's my preference.


It is beautiful year round, but especially in the spring. The green fields are so green! This time of year I need little excuse to drive out that way, so I was almost glad to have to return the shades, especially since it is not raining today. Not raining is big. In fact at this moment the sun is shining.  Anyway it is a beautiful drive. In March the daffodils out this way are incredible. They seem to grow wild in huge swaths along the roadsides and on the ditch banks. You see clumps of them even out in the fields. I especially like this old wagon planted with daffodils in a farmyard alongside the road.

When I first saw all the daffodils out here a couple springs ago it inspired me to plant daffodils at home. The past two falls Ray and I have planted probably several hundred daffodil bulbs along the street and up the driveway at our house. They look great this year and I imagine more and more every year.


I appreciated the comments left about the light fixture. Gerrie and Ginny—the first places I looked were at Rejuvenation and Hippo Hardware. It was at Hippo that the woman showed me the similar fixtures they had for sale (pricey) and said that if they did not have the set screws for shades, then they were hung with bare bulbs. I may have convinced myself that bare bulbs will be the way to go with this one. I found this rejuvenated antique , which is similar, on Rejuvenation's web site.The description says it was always intended to have bare bulbs. The ones shown in their photo are hand-painted bulbs that they sell for $9 each. Note the price of the fixture as well. I paid $32, including shipping from eBay and have added another $20 or so with rewiring and paint stripping supplies. Maybe the new owners will want to buy some of the pretty hand-painted bulbs for this fixture, but I am using much less expensive ones. I liked the statement on the Rejuvenation fixture description that says that the dents on that fixture lend it "extra authenticity."  Mine also has that extra authenticity!

8 comments:

  1. So proud of you! It looks fantastic, Prairie Terry!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It looks like it belongs! Great job Terri from the Prairie! I am have deep lust for that wagon full of daffodils.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have a big yellow Reader's Digest book of home repair (in fact it's called The Complete DIY Manual) that helped demystify re-wiring for me. Of course, being married to an electrical engineer helps, too.

    Daffodils: I gave you that bag of bulbs, what, two years ago? This spring we're seeing the benefits of the thinning I did back then: Lots and lots of flowers, gazillions more than last year, when they were, I guess, recovering from the transplant.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My oldest son is a paramedic for Washington County and travels from his place to work via the farm roads of Hillsboro. I had not a clue that a "piece of the land" exsisted. I thought it was all concrete highway!

    I'm afraid of electricity...the fixture looks interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. As a former light fixture sales-lady...I can tell you that there are many fixtures that have "bare" bulbs. Especially those that are considered "period" lighting. People pay big bucks for no shades! ;) I am amazed at your restoration of this fixture. I'm sure it will look great! I am "advising" my mother in law through her re-model. She had about 20 or so 1980's style brass fixtures. She looked at me like I had grown horns when I told her to paint them as a cheap and easy fix. I referred her to your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your photos. When I go to have my quilt tops quilted I go through farm land, like you to enjoy the scenery. The wagon with the daffodils in it looks fantastic and takes me back in time. My daffodils are up about 5 inches now and hopefully we will have some warmer weather so they will grow and bloom.

    The lamp fixture turned out fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "Dents add authenticity!" !! That's awesome. :) There's an upcharge for those you know. The fixture looks really nice without shades. Great job!

    We find it hard to find good lighting. We've taken back a couple of nice-looking free-standing lamps because of the glare. They look lovely if you are viewing them from a standing position, however if you use them while sitting on the couch, the person in the chair across the room is blinded by the glare that isn't covered by the shade. Quite annoying.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Could you paint your own bulbs with glass paint? I've seen it at Michael's, and since it's dishwasher safe it might be fine for lamps. (?)

    ReplyDelete